A “religious” person
The man stands and watches the proceedings. He thinks of his small role in this drama. He had been in the crowd of those who had found this man in Gethsemane and had seen the soldiers arrest this ‘blasphemer’.
The man holds a position in the temple; he is a Pharisee. He had followed the crowd to the home of Caiaphas. The man’s superiors had been looking for any reason they could find to put this blasphemer to death.
He thinks, “God is pleased because we are dealing with this imposter. How dare him to say that he is the Son of God!”
He continues thinking “He used tricks of the devil to ‘heal’ and he broke the law about working on the Sabbath.
If he truly were the Son of God, he would not have hung out with tax collectors and the beggars and the street urchins. He would have had us as his friends and ministered to our people instead of the ones he chose. He could have had a nice spacious home with all the finery he could find.”
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Our man hears the one on the cross, cry out. “He actually calls out to God as his father? No way this can be,he’s deranged, my superiors are right.”
Our man leaves the crowd, unmoved by what
he had heard.